Clematis and a Mystery Caterpillar

It's officially summer here when I spot the first swallowtail caterpillars in my curly parsley and rue. Hooray!!

 At first glance I thought both caterpillars were the same but the caterpillar in my rue has raised orangish bumps with black spikes and black and white lines. Hmmm.... What kind of swallowtail do you think this is?

This is the caterpillar for an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, a huge yellow and black butterfly commonly seen in my garden.

They devour the curly parsley that I plant just for them. I sow several pots of parsley every spring and let the flower heads self-sow sporadically throughout the summer to keep the caterpillars well supplied. I've never found them on my flat leaf parsley. Curly parsley grows well in hot, dry spots. If you give it too much waer, it will rot.

'Roguchi' clematis are beautiful purplish-blue bell shaped clematis that bloom all summer.

They die to the ground every winter so you don't have to worry about how to prune them. I leave the stems in place and then cut them to the ground in early spring.